You know who the contenders are

June 22, 2018

As the Baseball season continues, it’s the time of year you can pretty much figure who the contenders are. Cleveland is the only division leader that’s a lock. As predicted, Yankees or Red Sox in East with one being a wild card. Houston has opened their lead on Seattle, which would be a wild card team as of now. California is dead.

In the National League I think it will be dog fight in the East between the Nationals and the surprising Braves. Philadelphia is at least a year away. The main reason the Diamondbacks have resisted the Dodgers strong push is first baseman Paul Goldschmiidt breaking out of his slow start. In the last 15 games he’s batting .459, on base .542, slugging .984 with 8 HR and 20 RBI.

The Chicago Cubs have gone 5-5 in last 10 and trail Milwaukee by one game. I don’t know when the Cubs will get hot and blow by this team. Last year it was after the all-star break. However, Cub fans want the streak to happen now. I thought this might have happened after taking two of three from the Dodgers. Then they lose to the moribund Cincinnati Reds.

The pitching has been steady with Mike Montgomery replacing Yu Darvish in the rotation. Hats off to Jon Lester who I thought was on the decline. He doesn’t have the 98mph fastball or trick pitches. He has great command which is why he is 9-2 with a 2.10 ERA . They also need a healthy Morrow. Where was Strop? Justin Wilson your plane is boarding.

The biggest problem I see is the offense goes AWOL. What’s puzzling is in some games they score a lot of runs (348) and are hitting .259. Maybe it’s a feast or famine thing. What pleases most Cub fans is the hitting of Jason Hayward. With right field looking okay, it’s time for Theo work out a deal for Manny Machado and ensure a place in the World Series.

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The biggest question for White Sox fans. When do the Bears start training camp? After winning a series against Milwaukee and Boston and splitting with Minnesota and Cleveland, I thought maybe the Sox were improving. Well, they are in the midst of a seven game losing streak. This a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad baseball team. I liked the idea of rebuilding, although this will take many years with all the holes on this team.

There are only two position players worth keeping, Abreu and Moncada. Even though all prospects do not make it (unless they are Theo Epstein’s) I would not yet consider Moncada a bust. He has shown signs of promise, especially before a 10 day absence due to an injury. However, the 102 strikeouts in only 255 at bats is very disconcerting. Defensively challenged, and a .231 average, second to Moncada, with 82 strikeouts is shortstop Tim Anderson. He has to be replaced.  Third Baseman Yomar Sanchez may be good for your club house, but not in your line up. He needs to go. Too bad the rebuild shows no replacements on the horizon. The whole minor league outfield has to go. Jimenez will replace one, others may be ready in two years. Top prospect Robert is in A ball. Catching is another position where the top prospect Zach Collins is in AA ball.

With first year pitchers in the rotation, you knew there would be ups and downs. Too bad there were more downs. Carson Fulmer is so down he is now in the minors looking for his control on the major league level; Gioloto is looking for his. Lopez and Covey have at times looked good with ups outweighing the downs. Rodon, not quite back from DL is getting stronger. They should all improve with a year of experience. If not, they have a slew of young pitchers, some of whom may be ready. Expect a major improvement when James Shields is gone. The relief pitching has gotten better with Rondon and Fry. Soria is doing a great job as a closer and therefore he will be flipped at the trading deadline.